A Salisbury woman has been ordered to pay £12,958 and complete 100 hours of unpaid work after being caught with hundreds of counterfeit designer handbags she intended to sell.
Kesini Krueanarong, 46, admitted to 15 counts of possessing counterfeit designer handbags in connection with a business. During a trading standards raid, authorities discovered 344 fake bags at her residence, imitating high-end brands including Chanel, Hermes, and Louis Vuitton.
In addition to the financial penalty and community service, Krueanarong received a 12-month suspended prison sentence when she appeared at Salisbury Crown Court.
Initial complaints about Krueanarong between December 2020 and February 2021 led Wiltshire Trading Standards to advise her rather than take legal action, as she had claimed the items were personal possessions. However, in August 2021, a complaint surfaced from an individual who had purchased 70 counterfeit handbags from her via a Facebook page.
Further investigation revealed that Krueanarong was receiving packages from Thailand, containing additional counterfeit goods. Despite warnings from UK Border Force, Krueanarong continued to sell fake handbags. In June 2022, a raid by trading standards uncovered over 300 counterfeit bags, including replicas of Prada, Dior, Burberry, Givenchy, and Longchamp.
Councillor Dominic Muns, Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, stated, “We hope that this sentence will serve as a warning and a deterrent. We are committed to protecting residents from harm and our consumer protection role seriously, and we will not hesitate to prosecute in such cases.”
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